Adrien Brody

For years, actor Adrien Brody struggled to make a name for himself while appearing in numerous feature films. After making his debut as a 13-year-old orphan from New York City who finds a new life in...
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Attempting to delve into one of Tinseltown’s most curious scandals--the mysterious suicide (or was it?) of the original TV Superman actor George Reeves--the story begins after Reeves (Ben Affleck) is found dead of a seemingly self-inflicted gunshot wound during a late night party in his Benedict Canyon home. The case then unfolds through the eyes of Louis Simo (Adrien Brody) a street-smart publicity hungry private dick hired by Reeves’ grieving mother. As Simo slowly peels back the layers of Reeves’ seemingly glamorous life he discovers an actor of charm talent and sophistication whose every opportunity for a big break fizzled forcing him to lead a frustrated existence slumming in the superhero show he deemed beneath him. Gradually identifying with Reeves’ failed expectations for himself Simo discovers a host of candidates who may have actually pulled the trigger on the actor including his young party girl paramour (Robin Tunney) his longtime lover and patron (Diane Lane) and his lover’s husband a powerfully connected studio “fixer” (Bob Hoskins). It is Brody not Affleck who carries the bulk of the film on his shoulders and the Oscar winner delivers a finely etched turn as Simo who’s fractured potential mirrors Reeves’ but quite simply Simo’s story isn’t nearly as dark or engaging as Reeves’ life or the mystery surrounding his death. Affleck an actor who has had his share of ups downs duds and disappointments in Hollywood delivers one of his most charming and fully realized performances to date even if his spot-on recreation of Reeves’ speech pattern is a bit distracting. The luminous Lane’s acting talents remain in full blossom in a character she’s well-suited to play—the aging beauty fearing the road ahead—and she commands every scene she’s in. Unfortunately there should have been many many more of them. She’s almost criminally underused. Hoskins more menacing then ever and the reliable stable of supporting players like Joe Spano are all top-notch as well; only Tunney apparently trying to channel both Betty Boop and Bette Davis simultaneously seems a bit off her game as the wannabe femme fatale. Best known for his strong turns helming many of the best episodes of television series such as The Sopranos Sex and the City and Six Feet Under first time feature director Allen Coulter’s cool assured hand and meticulous recreation of Cold War Los Angeles are major bonuses here. Even when Simo’s story sags in comparison to Reeves’ Coulter keeps us interested particularly when staging the Rashomon-like sequences depicting the various theories behind Reeves’ demise. But by skimping on Reeves’ story in favor of a less compelling fictional framework built around a private detective investigating the case we never see one key suspect’s possible murder scenario enacted visually and it comes off as a glaring omission.

The Royal Tenenbaums director Wes Anderson is re-teaming with pal Owen Wilson for a comedy about brothers searching for enlightenment in India.
The Darjeeling Limited will also star Oscar winner Adrien Brody and Rushmore's Jason Schwartzman.
Anderson, who wrote the film with Schwartzman and Roman Coppola, will shoot the film entirely in India beginning in December.
Wilson, Schwartzman and Brody will play three brothers who take a spiritual trek through India following the death of their father.
Anderson and Wilson have co-written Bottle Rocket, Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums and Wilson regularly features in Anderson's films.
Article Copyright Entertainment News Network All Rights Reserved.

Penelope Cruz and Matthew McConaughey have split up after dating from over a year.
The sexy couple fell for each other while co-starring in the action adventure movie Sahara in 2005, but the pressures of conflicting work schedules have pushed them apart.
A joint statement released to People magazine reads: "(Cruz and McConaughey) have decided to take time off as a couple. Due to busy work schedules and so much time apart, they mutually decided four weeks ago that separating was the best thing to do at this time."
Cruz recently won the Best Actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival and is currently in Spain filming the bull-fighting movie Manolete with Adrien Brody.
Meanwhile, McConaughey, who was named the Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine, is spending his summer in West Virginia filming We Are...Marshall.
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Penelope Cruz and Adrien Brody's new bullfighting film has incurred the wrath of animal rights activists, who are furious after hearing reports about potential on-set animal slaughter.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have instructed supporters to disrupt filming on the set of Manolete, unless movie-makers agree to use computer technology instead of harming real bulls.
A source tells MSNBC's The Scoop Web site, "If it's true, it's rather shocking, because Penelope is a big animal-rights activist who has spoken out against bullfighting."
Actor Pierce Brosnan was admired for using digital technology when filming similar scenes on his new film The Matador.
A spokesman for PETA says, "Bullfights are cowardly affairs that have no place in a modern world."
Article Copyright World Entertainment News Network All Rights Reserved.

Ben Affleck's forthcoming film on the death of TV Superman actor George Reeves has been renamed, following legal threats by the producer of the Superman movies.
Affleck plays late actor Reeves in theTruth, Justice and the American Way, which has now been changed to Hollywoodland.
Distributors Focus Features were forced to give up the original title after Warner Bros - who produces the Superman film franchise, including the upcoming Superman Returns - threatened to sue. "Truth, Justice And The American Way" is Superman's slogan.
Reeves, who played the Man of Steel in the 1951 feature film Superman and the Mole-Men and the 1950s TV series Adventures of Superman, died of a gunshot wound in June 1959. While the cause of his death was ruled suicide, friends and family suspected he may have been murdered.
Hollywoodland, directed by Allen Coulter, also stars Adrien Brody, Diane Lane and Bob Hoskins, and hits US cinemas screens this year.
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King Kong is the classic tale of beauty and the beast—only the beast may well lie within humanity. With equal parts loyalty and aesthetic enhancement the film stays true to the 1933 version’s timeline following struggling vaudeville actress Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) who accepts a part in a film by director Carl Denham (Jack Black). They decide to film on undiscovered Skull Island and set sail (out of New York City) immediately; the director also drags along playwright Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) to finish the script. Ann immediately hits it off with Jack but when they arrive on the island chief proprietor King Kong claims her for his own. Jack tries to save Ann while Carl tries to capitalize on the beast he dubs “The Eighth Wonder of the World.” Sadly only Ann realizes that there’s more than meets the eye with Kong and she fights to spread the word before it’s too late. The lead actors are in a sense brave for enduring the true beast of Kong: the inevitable marketing blitzkrieg to follow. Perhaps knowing they’re not the real stars of the movie the actors make their performances look easy. Watts steals the show not only communicating the incommunicable by endearing us to an 8 000-pound gorilla but emoting with nothing but a blue screen and Andy Serkis’s ape-like motions to guide her through much of the way. The interplay—if you will—between Kong and Ann is the most compelling element to the film. Black might’ve been an unlikely choice for a semi-serious/villainous role but he still imparts his trademark mania his personality not dulled in the least bit. Brody exudes the look of a screenwriter-turned-hero but it’s hard to find his voice amidst the mayhem. If there’s a bone to pick with Peter Jackson it’d be with the decibel levels of Kong. Deafening sound aside Jackson again delivers and shows why a studio can enlist him for a $200 million movie and sleep easy: he executes the heart-tugging subplot and mind-blowing effects with equal fervor; when Kong rips up the Big Apple—I’m sorry the seamlessly re-created 1930s Big Apple—you rue the city not the studio/CGI props; and when the beast dangles off the Empire State Building it’s incredibly credible. All the while you can rest assured that Jackson too gets lost in the splendor because it’s his layperson enthusiasm that’s the film’s No. 1 asset. Every now and then an undertaking like Kong comes around and it underscores the truly extraordinary accomplishment of directing a film.

Teen star Lindsay Lohan has caused a storm of controversy after she pulled out of a morning TV appearance, citing "food poisoning," before making a full recovery to appear on MTV just hours later.
The Mean Girls star, 19, joined Naomi Watts, Peter Jackson, Adrien Brody, Jack Black and George Lucas at the New York City King Kong premiere and after-party on Monday night, but the next morning cancelled her scheduled appearance on Live with Regis and Kelly, complaining of food poisoning.
However, later that evening, Lohan was well enough to join Ashanti on MTV's Total Request Live (TRL), sparking speculation she had been partying too hard the night before.
On Live yesterday, host Regis Philbin complained, "Lindsay Lohan is sick. She's not coming. Well, that's kind of a blow. She has food poisoning."
A spokeswoman for Live confirms to The Scoop website, "I can confirm only that she was booked on the show and she did cancel."
Article Copyright World Entertainment News Network All Rights Reserved.

Ashton Kutcher is demanding Adrien Brody's Academy Award, after successfully
fooling the actor on his hit prank show Punk'd.
While many critics felt that Brody deserved his 2003 accolade for his efforts
in The Pianist, Kutcher believes anybody holding such an award should not have
been so easily fooled.
He says, "Somebody who's won an Academy Award, you would think that they
would be able to identify actors. They should be able to go, 'Oh you're acting,
right?' That's what we would think.
"Either A, everyone in my cast should win an Academy Award, or B, he should
be stripped of his award and it should be given to me."
In an episode of Punk'd which aired on Sunday night,
Brody and his DJ pal Funkmaster Flex asked a teen to move a car which was
blocking his vehicle, sparking an accident and a huge parking lot row.
Article Copyright World Entertainment News Network All Rights Reserved.

In trying to piece this movie together we know that Gulf War veteran Jack Starks (Brody) suffers from amnesia after surviving a combat-related gunshot wound to the head. If that wasn't enough once he is back stateside he is soon accused of murdering a police officer although he has no recollection of the crime. It keeps getting worse for the guy. Jack is then committed to a mental institution for the criminally insane and is placed under the care of the unconventional and somewhat twisted Dr. Becker (Kris Kristofferson). The doc puts Jack on a controversial treatment regimen in which he is injected with experimental drugs confined in a straight-jacket and locked for extended periods in the body drawer of the basement morgue. Well isn't that lovely? Oddly enough in this drugged disoriented and claustrophobic state Jack has an epiphany. He is somehow propelled into the future where he meets Jackie (Keira Knightley) and discovers that he died soon after being admitted to the mental institution. Together they search for a way to save him from his fate. Does that make any sense?
You would think after making something as harrowing as The Pianist or even psychologically twisty as The Village Oscar winner Adrien Brody would want to do something light and fun. But no. He apparently is up for more excruciating torment this time getting shot in the head and then being wrapped in a straight-jacket and locked in a confined space for hours on end. The thing is Brody is really really good at portraying tortured characters. Maybe it has something to do with his offbeat angular good looks sad eyes and his quietly determined demeanor. In any event Brody's Jack is instantly likeable. Rather than pitying him for all the horrifying things he goes through somehow you know nothing can get him down that he is going to find the answers. As his cohort and love interest the British Knightley dons an American accent and aptly plays the equally tortured Jackie who's experienced her fair share of hurt. Kristofferson too handles his somewhat misguided character with composure. And Jennifer Jason Leigh comes out of hiding to turn in a quiet and moving performance as a kindly doctor trying to help Jack but has her own issues.
Auteur director John Maybury (Love Is the Devil) who wanted to treat the film as an experimental avant-garde piece says it succinctly "What interested me about [The Jacket] is that it's kind of genre-less … I hope no one comes up with a label for it because for me the fact that it slips between the cracks of various genres makes it interesting as an experience." While this sounds a tad pretentious Maybury still accomplishes his mission. One would be hard pressed to find anything formulaic in The Jacket even if you can spot elements from other psychological time-altering mind-bending films. Yet with this concept comes a problem of aesthetics and coherency. The film jumps around a lot and oftentimes it is hard to follow the chain of events. Not to mention there's a fair bit of having to suspend your disbelief. But The Jacket will still grab you by the throat emotionally--and that's really all that's needed to keep you in your seat.

Voiced the character of Rickity the Field Mouse in the animated feature "Fantastic Mr. Fox"

Portrayed Wladyslaw Szpilman, the brilliant pianist in Roman Polanski's "The Pianist"; received leading role nominations for Golden Globe, BAFTA and a SAG Awards

Summary

For years, actor Adrien Brody struggled to make a name for himself while appearing in numerous feature films. After making his debut as a 13-year-old orphan from New York City who finds a new life in Nebraska in "Home at Last" (PBS, 1988), Brody looked for that one breakthrough role that could propel him to stardom. He believed he had found that role when he was cast by director Terrence Malick for what he thought was the main character in "The Thin Red Line" (1998). But Malick changed the film's focus in post-production, leaving most of Brody's performance on the cutting room floor. The young actor remained undeterred, however, as he continued to showcase his talent and dedication to craft in several compelling features until finally landing the role of a lifetime in "The Pianist" (2002). A bittersweet look at Jewish piano player Wladyslaw Szpilman's experience of surviving the atrocities of the Krakow ghetto, the film was directed by Roman Polanski and was drawn from his own experiences during the Holocaust. The film earned widespread critical praise and a Best Actor Oscar for Brody, a win that cemented his status as a top leading man capable of turning in riveting performances.

Education

"Being phenomenally wealthy is not my main goal." - Brody quoted in Premiere magazine, August 1994

"Brody, his soulful eyes and gaunt frame reminiscent more of such great classical European stars as Jean-Louis Barrault, Gerard Philippe and Vittorio Gassman than of any current American thesps, is terrifically engaging and charismatic as Chris." - From Todd McCarthy's review of "Restaurant" in Variety, May 3, 1998

"It's great when people appreciate your work, but I don't know how seriously to take it. The amazing thing is that I found something so early that I can support myself doing, and that can even be extremely lucrative, but I love it either way." - Brody quoted to Detour magazine, November 1996

"You try not to play similar types. I've played quite a few Italians, and I've done a lot of period pieces, but I'm not too concerned about typecasting at this point. I'm not even Italian." - Brody quoted in Los Angeles magazine, November 1998

"It was as if all the things I never had an opportunity to do, in that one moment I was able to do. I did just what my heart desired - in front of everybody," Brody explains. "I was able to expose myself and the way I feel, you know? Just let it go. I was in the moment, enjoying it and embracing it, and there was Halle, looking beautiful. It was a big, beautiful thank you. I mean, who knew?" - Brody on kissing Halle Berry, after winning the Oscar for his role in the "Pianist" in GQ magazine, 2003.